The novel is set in exotic and gothic Barcelona and tells the summer tale of Alison �a wee heifer�a twenty two year old, no mates, stay at home from the rump end of Cumbernauld.� The description sound light and fun but the first chapter goes on to rip into the darker side of Barcelona and sets the tone more aptly than the cover blurb.

Alison has had the good fortune of almost dying. She contracted glandular fever which left her with internal organ scarring and a gorgeous figure. The wee virgin leaves her lardy bitch pals Lisa and Lauren and escapes to Spain to live her rediscovered life. There she meets Chloe, a young dysfunctional American heiress who invites Alison to share her apartment, to help look after her dog with eight new born puppies and water her marijuana plants.

As Alison and Chloe�s relationship deepens, Alison becomes more na�ve and pliable and Chloe emerges as a female version of a Jack Nicholson character, complete with tool bag.

There is a see-saw effect between dark and light throughout the novel. Many of the chapters are preceded by disturbing recollection dream sequences, the resolution of which explains Alison�s character. Although the witty, revenge filled postcards Alison sends to Lisa and Lauren and the flashbacks to her tortured past are funny to read, they contain a sad, dark element. I felt that the slapstick scenes introduced with the puppies and failed excursions into sex and drug could have been dropped and this would have levelled the see-saw and made the book even more enjoyable and credible.

The epilogue is a fitting conclusion to this troubled tale and left me feeling chilled, but satisfied.

�My Best Friend Has Issues� is about that fragile beast that is female friendship and it is refreshing to read. It flattens the frothy cappuccino �Sex in the City� and �Friends� image and exposes it for what it is. Most young girl friendships� are based on need and have strong elements of bullying, non violent aggression, exclusion and exploitation. Marney has managed to weave this into her story to great effect and I am sure most women will recognise some of the behaviours in all of the female characters.

The novel is well written as I knew it would be, having been a fan of Marney�s short stories. If you can get past the Chick Lit cover and the slapstick I am sure you will have as much fun reading this page turner as I have. It also reintroduced me to fish finger sandwiches, which is something I will now have to break free of before I turn into Lisa or Lauren.

Moira McPartlin is a Scot with Irish roots. She began writing and attending creative writing classes at Strathclyde University in Glasgow in 2000 as a release from a busy career in Finance. She writes shorts stories and poetry and has had work published in Storie, The People's Friend, and The Scottish Mountaineer. In 2006 she won the Mountaineering Council for Scotland annual poetry competition and for the past three years, has regularly contributed book reviews and articles to www.laurahird.com. She resigned from a global position in Shell Oil in October 2005 to concentrate on writing her first novel Torque which was completed in July 2007. She is currently working on her second novel and developing her website. Moira has two adult sons and lives in Stirlingshire with her husband. She is a keen mountaineer and in 2006 compleated her round of Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000 feet high).